James Gurney

This daily weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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or by email:gurneyjourney (at) gmail.comSorry, I can't give personal art advice or portfolio reviews. If you can, it's best to ask art questions in the blog comments.

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All images and text are copyright 2015 James Gurney and/or their respective owners. Dinotopia is a registered trademark of James Gurney. For use of text or images in traditional print media or for any commercial licensing rights, please email me for permission.

However, you can quote images or text without asking permission on your educational or non-commercial blog, website, or Facebook page as long as you give me credit and provide a link back. Students and teachers can also quote images or text for their non-commercial school activity. It's also OK to do an artistic copy of my paintings as a study exercise without asking permission.

14 comments:

I can't say I've never heard of Roy Crane, so thanks for turning me onto a new artist!

I've gotten a similar lesson out of Milt Caniff and Noel Sickles though! Those were my go-to artists for a short bit in trying to figure out how much black you can use (with the answer usually being "as much as you can get away with.")

Now that I think about it, it might be time to revisit them and get a refresher...

I love black!! Not out of the tube black but the black achieved by mixing red,yellow, and blue from your pallet. Tube black looks like the men you see walking around with that home died hair color, it's flat without highlights.

A really good fairly current artist that does amazing use of black in his art is Tim Sale. I'm putting his website link here if anyone wants to check him out (or u can just google his name). he has a very 30's/40's noir feel to his art.

Since I draw comics too (in fact, I have my own series), black is very important to me on my pages.

It has to be used in conjunction with grays and whites. As Klaus Janson said in his text, The DC Comics Guide to Inking Comics, nothing stands out on a page full of all blacks or all whites or all grays. You have to mix it up and get a good balance!

max- wow yea almost forgot about Janson, he's inked practically everyone. His work with Frank Miller especially stands out as far as his use of shadows to really play up the mood (ex. The Dark Knight Return).

this really reminds me of what you wrote about shapewelding in imaginative realism, which really blew my mind. which in turn reminds me to read it again and remember everything you've taught me when painting and drawing. thank you so much!